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Creation Basics & Beyond: An In-Depth Look at Science, Origins, and Evolution
Creation or evolution? This debate is one of the most vital issues of our time. After all, if the Bible is false on its very first page, then how can any rational person have confidence in what follows from it?
Fortunately, you don’t need a doctorate in science to understand the basic lines of scientific evidence that surround the creation-evolution controversy. Nor do you need a theological degree to understand the basic theology and moral implications of creation. Creation Basics & Beyond clearly shows that the Bible really is what it claims to be—the inspired Word of the living God.
Written and reviewed by experts, Creation Basics & Beyond offers a thorough, yet understandable, introduction to the basic questions involved in the creation-evolution debate.
For more information, visit www. icr. org.
Fortunately, you don’t need a doctorate in science to understand the basic lines of scientific evidence that surround the creation-evolution controversy. Nor do you need a theological degree to understand the basic theology and moral implications of creation. Creation Basics & Beyond clearly shows that the Bible really is what it claims to be—the inspired Word of the living God.
Written and reviewed by experts, Creation Basics & Beyond offers a thorough, yet understandable, introduction to the basic questions involved in the creation-evolution debate.
For more information, visit www. icr. org.
542 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2013
47 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Henry M. Morris III
23 books3 followersDr. Henry M. Morris III was the CEO of the Institute for Creation Research, which was founded by his father, Henry M. Morris.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 4, 2019
If I could back the proverbial truck of my life up to grade school and high school (knowing what I know now), I would be much more disciplined in math and science. Somehow, if I could do it over again, I'd be a neurologist. But...that's not the where I am at in life. Much of scientific writings go over my head. It intrigues me and I want to understand it but...
So it was with hesitation that I picked up my copy of Creation Basics, thinking that even though it is "basics" that it would still be too much. Truth is: I loved this book. It was so incredibly helpful and thought provoking. Sure, there were some sections that talked about DNA and RNA and other elements that were things I didn't understand, but for the most part, it was very understandable. In fact, I think it is a book that every person should read. I should say at the outset that I believe in a young earth. This is my worldview and I take Genesis 1-11 literal. In fact, I'd go so far to say that my faith stands or falls, somewhat on Genesis 1-11.
The book, written by authors who have Ph.D.'s in their scientific specialty, has five main sections: 1) Section one starts out with looking at Worldview: God Determines Truth or Man Determines Truth. This section sets the stage for how to understand the rest of the book. This section looks at the various worldviews when it comes to issues of "creation" and answering the many questions provoked by scientific research. When it all comes down to it, the ultimate issues is: How do we interpret Genesis. 2) The second section was amazing. This section is titled, "Biology: Created Kinds or Common Ancestry. In this section the authors look at Life's Design, considering things such as cells, Darwinian theory, Similarity between humans and animals, Genes, the Evolutionary Tree of Life, Junk DNA (something I wasn't familiar with), Parasites, Cain and where he got his wife, the origin of "races", Chromosome 2, and where did life begin. All of these were incredible sections to read. 3) The Third section was equally fascinating. It is titled, "Geology: Recent Flood or Millions of Years?" This section looks at the fossil record, the evidences for a massive worldwide flood, dating information (oh how critical this is), Mt. St. Helens and what we learn about life and geology from this, Plate tectonics, etc. It was a most helpful section. 4) The fourth section dealt with the oft-debated subject of Dinosauers and Man. Did they walk together or rule apart. The authors consider tissue fossils, the age of the earth arguments, feathered dinosauers, dragons, and how they date a fossil. An absolutely critical section of the book. 5) Last, this final section looked at the fascinating area of astronomy. In doing so, the authors interacted with the big bang theory and the inherent problems with this theory. They also considered what we have been told about the age of the cosmos, the law of physics, the complicated issue of the distant starlight and how this can fit a young earth perspective and then ends with the consideration of UFO's and whether other universes exist.
Most of this book was understandable to a simpleton like myself. There were a couple of sections that I had to confess as I slowly read through them that I wasn't exactly following what was being said, but those sections were few. I personally think that any college student who really wants to think through any of these issues would do well to get a copy of this book and give it some consideration. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to read this treasure.
So it was with hesitation that I picked up my copy of Creation Basics, thinking that even though it is "basics" that it would still be too much. Truth is: I loved this book. It was so incredibly helpful and thought provoking. Sure, there were some sections that talked about DNA and RNA and other elements that were things I didn't understand, but for the most part, it was very understandable. In fact, I think it is a book that every person should read. I should say at the outset that I believe in a young earth. This is my worldview and I take Genesis 1-11 literal. In fact, I'd go so far to say that my faith stands or falls, somewhat on Genesis 1-11.
The book, written by authors who have Ph.D.'s in their scientific specialty, has five main sections: 1) Section one starts out with looking at Worldview: God Determines Truth or Man Determines Truth. This section sets the stage for how to understand the rest of the book. This section looks at the various worldviews when it comes to issues of "creation" and answering the many questions provoked by scientific research. When it all comes down to it, the ultimate issues is: How do we interpret Genesis. 2) The second section was amazing. This section is titled, "Biology: Created Kinds or Common Ancestry. In this section the authors look at Life's Design, considering things such as cells, Darwinian theory, Similarity between humans and animals, Genes, the Evolutionary Tree of Life, Junk DNA (something I wasn't familiar with), Parasites, Cain and where he got his wife, the origin of "races", Chromosome 2, and where did life begin. All of these were incredible sections to read. 3) The Third section was equally fascinating. It is titled, "Geology: Recent Flood or Millions of Years?" This section looks at the fossil record, the evidences for a massive worldwide flood, dating information (oh how critical this is), Mt. St. Helens and what we learn about life and geology from this, Plate tectonics, etc. It was a most helpful section. 4) The fourth section dealt with the oft-debated subject of Dinosauers and Man. Did they walk together or rule apart. The authors consider tissue fossils, the age of the earth arguments, feathered dinosauers, dragons, and how they date a fossil. An absolutely critical section of the book. 5) Last, this final section looked at the fascinating area of astronomy. In doing so, the authors interacted with the big bang theory and the inherent problems with this theory. They also considered what we have been told about the age of the cosmos, the law of physics, the complicated issue of the distant starlight and how this can fit a young earth perspective and then ends with the consideration of UFO's and whether other universes exist.
Most of this book was understandable to a simpleton like myself. There were a couple of sections that I had to confess as I slowly read through them that I wasn't exactly following what was being said, but those sections were few. I personally think that any college student who really wants to think through any of these issues would do well to get a copy of this book and give it some consideration. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to read this treasure.
May 29, 2017
I wish I could rate this collection of psuedoscience claims a zero out of five, but I cannot. The claims made in each chapter are highly unscientific and are nothing more than false accusations about the Cosmos based off the presupposition that Christianity and the Biblical account of Creation is true and literal. Legitimate, verifiable science is scoffed at. Actual scientists are either called "conforming Christians" or "Evolutionists," in some odd, derogatory fashion. A myriad of immaterial things are examined, making this book nothing more than literary masturbation on the part of the authors. The only citations you'll find are ones to the Bible and ones to other creationist-written science publications, nothing from the secular world. Scientists such as Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, James Hutton and a plethora of other well respected fellows are demonized as figureheads of a made of religion referred to as "Evolutionism," I'm assuming what they believe is the praise of the theory of evolution. Misinformation is rich and thick like a fruity oatmeal in this book; the ideology expressed is dangerous to scientific progress--dangerous to society.
May 28, 2019
This book is a compilation of 49 articles submitted by various writers. Most are scientists, some are theologians or philosophers. The book is organized very well. The articles can be read by themselves without having to delve into the whole book.
Extremely dogmatic and not very persuasive. The articles in general are not trying to persuade as much as to lambast the opposing side. I understand holding a position but it seems that some writers would come down harshly in a differing position.
Wow! Applying it's own critique on proper exegesis, it is not very exegetical. For example, ignoring Gen 2:4 when discussing 'yom,' and ignoring 'Cainan' from Luke's genealogy when discussing open-versus-closed generational theory. When Johnson attacks evolutionary science, (and I am not an evolutionist but an old earth creationist) he attacks them without explaining why they have it wrong.
Extremely dogmatic and not very persuasive. The articles in general are not trying to persuade as much as to lambast the opposing side. I understand holding a position but it seems that some writers would come down harshly in a differing position.
Wow! Applying it's own critique on proper exegesis, it is not very exegetical. For example, ignoring Gen 2:4 when discussing 'yom,' and ignoring 'Cainan' from Luke's genealogy when discussing open-versus-closed generational theory. When Johnson attacks evolutionary science, (and I am not an evolutionist but an old earth creationist) he attacks them without explaining why they have it wrong.
October 29, 2023
Because of the various authors taking turns writing chapters, it depended on the chapter how good it was. There were some circular arguments, but also some great new facts I learned. Although they said it was written for non-academics, I don't think it was actually edited by someone who knew what nonacademics would understand and what not. Basically, sometimes it still presumed background knowledge that not everyone might have.
August 31, 2016
This book is the new summary of the view pushed by the Institute for Creation Research. As a result, the bias is clear, with a few too many statement that are dogmatic or insulting. In spite of this, I liked the book. Most of the authors clearly made an attempt to present logical rational arguments that could be used in a wider context, and I appreciated the attempt. It is too bad that they consistently choose to define words to divide rather than unify Christians – e.g. they define biblical Christianity as belief in their particular views; especially their interpretation of Genesis. This obviously will not endear their arguments to the many biblical Christians who do not accept their exegesis.
The book covers reasons for believing in a young earth from different perspectives (biological, earth science, theology, physics etc.). Even though I do not agree with many of the arguments, there are many that I believe need and deserve to be said. For example, the wholesale acceptance of macroevolution in spite of any evidence for the mechanism has always disturbed me (My friends who support evolution the strongest argue that the evidence is elsewhere {i.e. DNA}, and admit that the mechanism is still not understood). This book is a great summary of the current difficulties that exist in macroevolutionary theories.
The section on the flood as the reason for all the fossils was interesting. While I don’t buy all the arguments, I can acknowledge that many are spot on – especially the circular reasoning that goes into aging rocks. The discussion on recent dinosaurs in light of recent discoveries of soft tissue and mummified remains was fun and deserves more attention. I agree with the author that the obvious solution (recent dinosaurs) is ignored since it challenges the existing evolutionary paradigm.
As a Physicist I found the arguments against the big bang the most disturbing. Lisle (the author of that chapter) totally disregarded the evidence for a beginning a long time ago (Hubble etc.) and just attacked the details of the naturalistic theory. I continually find myself getting depressed at this approach. 100 years ago, atheist scientists refused to accept the Christian idea of a big bang as it pointed to a time of creation. I would have thought Christians would rejoice in the clear evidence of a supernatural creation event! Rather they (like Lisle) imply that this is an atheistic view.
At one point in the book, the authors accused those who push evolution as being very elastic. That is, they are happy to accommodate any scientific evidence into their theory. This is correct, but when I read it I laughed, since this is exactly what the ICR scientists have demonstrated in their writings. It is too bad that there is no forum for actually discussing the evidence (biblical and scientific). I feel stuck between dogmatism on both sides! I personally don’t have a problem with either a young or an old universe. But, I believe that God wants me to use my mind fully as a Christian studying the bible, and a scientist studying God’s creation.
The book covers reasons for believing in a young earth from different perspectives (biological, earth science, theology, physics etc.). Even though I do not agree with many of the arguments, there are many that I believe need and deserve to be said. For example, the wholesale acceptance of macroevolution in spite of any evidence for the mechanism has always disturbed me (My friends who support evolution the strongest argue that the evidence is elsewhere {i.e. DNA}, and admit that the mechanism is still not understood). This book is a great summary of the current difficulties that exist in macroevolutionary theories.
The section on the flood as the reason for all the fossils was interesting. While I don’t buy all the arguments, I can acknowledge that many are spot on – especially the circular reasoning that goes into aging rocks. The discussion on recent dinosaurs in light of recent discoveries of soft tissue and mummified remains was fun and deserves more attention. I agree with the author that the obvious solution (recent dinosaurs) is ignored since it challenges the existing evolutionary paradigm.
As a Physicist I found the arguments against the big bang the most disturbing. Lisle (the author of that chapter) totally disregarded the evidence for a beginning a long time ago (Hubble etc.) and just attacked the details of the naturalistic theory. I continually find myself getting depressed at this approach. 100 years ago, atheist scientists refused to accept the Christian idea of a big bang as it pointed to a time of creation. I would have thought Christians would rejoice in the clear evidence of a supernatural creation event! Rather they (like Lisle) imply that this is an atheistic view.
At one point in the book, the authors accused those who push evolution as being very elastic. That is, they are happy to accommodate any scientific evidence into their theory. This is correct, but when I read it I laughed, since this is exactly what the ICR scientists have demonstrated in their writings. It is too bad that there is no forum for actually discussing the evidence (biblical and scientific). I feel stuck between dogmatism on both sides! I personally don’t have a problem with either a young or an old universe. But, I believe that God wants me to use my mind fully as a Christian studying the bible, and a scientist studying God’s creation.
December 19, 2022
I’m grateful that a book like this exists. Most of the information contained is too lofty for me to grasp, but knowing that there is an alternative to scientific theories that are pushed as fact makes this an excellent resource. I gleaned new knowledge and a greater understanding of theories we hear about often (dinosaurs before humans, multiverses, evolution, Big Bang Theory, etc.). Glad to have read it, took me all year! Excited to go to the ICR Museum in January!
December 9, 2017
Great introduction to creation science. Not as reader friendly as AIGs Creation Answer Book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews